Dubai Blood Donation Centre receives over 33,000 donors in H1 2018

The Dubai Health Authority’s, DHA, Dubai Blood Donation Centre received 33,190 blood donors in the first half of 2018, the director of the centre revealed.

Mai Raouf, Director of the Dubai Blood Donation Centre, added that 27,401 blood units and 2,657 platelets were collected through 423 blood donation campaigns in the first half of this year.

"The Dubai Blood Donation Centre, which is the only blood donation centre in Dubai, provides around 50 percent of the total blood collected throughout the country. The centre is committed to providing a safe and adequate supply of blood to all DHA hospitals and private hospitals in Dubai, to save the lives of patients who require blood transfusions," Dr. Raouf said.

She said that last year, the centre received 64,666 blood donators and collected 50,601 blood units and 5,828 blood platelets through 676 campaigns.

Dr. Raouf said that 38 percent of the blood collected was supplied to the Thalassemia Centre, 16 percent to Dubai Hospital, 14 percent to Rashid Hospital, eight percent to Latifa Hospital, three percent to Hatta Hospital, and 21 percent to private-sector hospitals.

"To ensure that a sufficient supply of blood is available for patients in need, the centre strives to use the latest technologies and the best practices to enhance the safety of blood transfusion. The centre also takes part in regular campaigns to collect blood. In fact, the DHA received 10,070 blood donors for the annual Dami Le Watani (My blood is for My Country) national campaign, since it was launched in 2012. We aim to provide excellent services to achieve customer satisfaction and exceed the level of their expectations. Currently, the customer satisfaction rate has reached 99.5 percent," Dr. Raouf said.

She added that the Dubai Blood Donation Centre, which has an international accreditation from the American Association of Blood Banks since 2012, has taken a number of steps to provide smart services that ease the customer’s journey. Among them is the DAMMI App, which makes it easier to find the time and place to make blood donations in Dubai.

Dr. Raouf stated the app allows blood donors to answer a donation-eligibility questionnaire and read pre-donation educational material through their mobile phones before they come to the donation centre.

The application will allow the public to register their details to be contacted during emergencies and disasters to donate blood. This will support the blood services in having a wide database for blood donors to be able to cover the hospital’s needs.

"The app will help avoid human errors and will add an extra layer to transfusion safety," she said.